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Eretmopus
marinaria Guenée
Thalassodes marinaria Guenée,
1857, Hist. nat. Insectes, Spec. gen. Lep. 7:102.
Geometra penicillata Walker,
1861, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br Mus. 22: 525.
Eretmopus retensa Prout, 1931, Novit. zool., 36: 154, syn.
n.
Diagnosis. See the first paragraph of the generic description. The base of the
hindwing below is tinged brownish buff.
Taxonomic notes. Apart from E. discissa in India, specimens from Thailand to
New Guinea all have very similar male genitalia and, despite variation in tarsal
scaling (possibly due to wear) and the extent of buff scaling at the base of the
hindwing underside, are best treated as conspecific.
Geographical range. Thailand, Andamans, Singapore, Borneo, Bali, Philippines (retensa),
Sulawesi, S. Moluccas, New Guinea, ?N. Australia.
Habitat preference. The species appears to be associated with mangroves.
Biology. Murphy (1990) described the biology of marinaria (see above)
in Singapore mangrove. The larva is long and slender, the head bluntly cleft.
Younger larvae are pinkish green, with a dorsal red stripe that may mimic a
bitten leaf margin. Older larvae are green with more restricted dorsal red
blotches.
The host-plant was Sonneratia
(Sonneratiaceae), also noted as a host in the Andamans (unpublished IIE
records).
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